The Battle of Ullays

1 The engagement of Ullays likewise took place in the month of Ṣafar. Its cause was that, on the Day of al-Walajah, Khalid had killed a group of Bakr ibn Waʾil—Christian Arabs who had been fighting on the Persian side. Their clans then gathered together, the most furious of them being ʿAbd al-Aswad al-ʿAjali, whose son had fallen the previous day. They wrote to the Persians, so Ardashir sent them an army [as reinforcements]. They concentrated at a place called Ullays.

While they were setting up a banquet with food they meant to eat, Khalid took them unawares with his forces. When they caught sight of him, some signalled that they should go on eating and take no notice of Khalid, whereas the Persian commander—whose name was Jaban—said, “Rather, let us advance against him,” but they paid him no heed.

When Khalid dismounted, he stepped forward in front of his troops and cried at the top of his voice, summoning the champions 3 among the Bedouin who were present: “Where is so-and-so? Where is so-and-so?” All of them hung back except for a man called Malik ibn Qays of the Banu Jadhrah, who came out to him. Khalid said to him, “Son of a vile woman 4 ! What has emboldened you against me above the rest when you have no loyalty?” He struck him 5 and killed him. At that, the Persians leapt from the food and reached for their weapons, and a very fierce battle ensued. The idolaters kept looking for Bahman to arrive with reinforcements from the king, so they fought with strength, determination, and savage fury, while the Muslims showed remarkable steadfastness.

Khalid prayed, “O Allah, I pledge to You that, if You grant us their backs, I will not spare anyone I can reach until I make their river run with their blood.” Allah—exalted is He—did indeed give the Muslims their backs, whereupon a herald of Khalid proclaimed: “Take captives, take captives; kill none except the one who refuses to be captured.” The cavalry then brought them in droves, herding them along, and Khalid assigned men to strike off their heads at the river. He did so for a full day and night, seeking out the survivors 6 the next day and the day after; whenever one of them was brought, his neck was struck at the river, whose water had meanwhile been diverted elsewhere.

One of the commanders said to him, “The river will not flow with their blood until you let the water run over the blood so that it carries it along; thus your oath will be fulfilled.” Khalid complied, and the river ran with thick, fresh blood. For that reason it has been called the “River of Blood” to this day. Mills driven by that water, now mixed with blood, ground enough flour to feed the entire army for three days. The number of dead reached seventy thousand—some said one hundred and fifty thousand.

When Khalid had routed the army and those who escaped had withdrawn, he went to the food they had laid out and said to the Muslims, “This is extra booty; dismount and eat.” The people dismounted and ate it for supper. The Persians had placed a great quantity of thin unleavened bread 7 on the table, and whenever the desert Arabs saw it they would ask, “What are these patches?” thinking they were pieces of cloth, whereupon those who knew what it was would tell them